February 18, 2010

It's been quite awhile since making any cheese, and last night I decided it's time to get back on the horse (or goat, as it were). We had a gallon of Whole Goat's Milk in the fridge, ready to go--the plan was to make another Chèvre, but I wanted to branch out a bit more and try something different. But, we also wanted to eat it right away! A few pages further into Ricki's book, we found her Whole Goat's Milk Ricotta recipe. Perfect!

A cheese purist will tell you that's it's not Ricotta if it's not made from Whey, but this recipe calls for just a gallon of whole goat's milk -- no whey. Ricki acknowledges this discrepancy, but then moves past it, with the implication that's it's darn tasty, so who really cares? I'm inclined to agree.

This recipe actually reminds me a lot of the Lemon Cheese recipe: Heat some milk, add a bit of acid, and drain the curdled cheese. Couldn't be much simpler.

Heat the milk to 195F, stirring constantly to avoid scalding. Turn off the heat, and slowly add the vinegar, stirring slowly and thoroughly. (Ricki's recipe suggests that if it's not curdling properly, instead of adding more vinegar, increase the temp to 205F--but be careful not to boil.) Allow the curds to set for a minute or two.

Once the milk has curdled, and there's a clear separation between the curds and whey, ladle the curds into a colander lined with butter muslin. Tie up and allow to drain for about a minute. Place in a bowl, and mix in the butter and baking soda. That's it!

The recipe didn't call for salt -- an odd omission, I think. After mixing in the "butter" and baking soda, the salt took it from bland to grand!

11 comments:

I've made that same recipe from raw goat's milk. I couldn't understand the need for the baking soda and butter, and didn't particularly like the result. I much prefer the whole milk ricotta recipe in her book for cow's milk. Works great with my raw goat's milk.

That looks delicious! I've used that very goat's milk--out local Trader Joe's carries it. I can see where it could make lovely ricotta but the chevre that I attempted was a disaster. I've decdided to stick with the fresh, raw milk that I buy from our local goat guy as I've never had anything go wrong with his milk.

Yum! Just made this and it was so easy... I was so happy with the result! I had a couple spoonfuls while it was still warm. I could taste the baking soda a bit though. Do you know what purpose the baking soda serves?